| Unique continuing education documentary targets drug industry influence.
Prescribers Turn the Table on Big Pharma; Pfizer Flips the Bill Boston, MA -- Frustrated by the pervasive pharmaceutical marketing in health care and related conflicts of interest that exist, Elissa Ladd, PhD, APRN, and Clinical Assistant Professor at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, is heading up a new program which showcases a documentary entitled: PERx: Prescribing Evidence-Based Therapies. The film, featuring expert commentary from renowned medical opinion leaders, and accompanying interactive website (www.perxinfo.org) will be launched on Monday, June 18. The only nurse practitioner to receive a grant as part of the Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program, Ladd was awarded $399,400 to develop PERx and educate prescribers about the various levels of drug industry influence. The program is funded through the 2004 multi-state settlement resolving allegations that Warner-Lambert (a division of Pfizer, Inc.) violated state consumer protection laws when it promoted the epilepsy drug Neurontin for uses not covered under the drug's FDA approval.
PERx will illustrate how pharmaceutical industry influence affects the prescribing behaviors of clinicians, emphasize the ethical implications of these practices and offer strategies to enhance evidence-based practice.
"I believe that all prescribers should be keenly aware of how pharmaceutical marketing can lead to unnecessary prescribing of expensive brand name drugs," said Ladd. "The overuse of these high cost medications is putting an undue burden on our already stressed health care system."
The MGH Institute selected filmmaker and consumer health advocate Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, a leader in raising awareness about the questionable tactics of the pharmaceutical industry, to produce the educational documentary. Slattery-Moschkau's previous films, Side Effects (starring Katherine Heigl) and Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety have also been used as an important resource for consumers, health organizations, doctors and medical schools across the country.
"With billions being spent on drug promotion, the ability to distinguish good marketing from good science plays a critical role in public health and the affordability of health care overall," said Slattery-Moschkau. "PERx provides the health care community with access to unbiased information and the tools they need to better serve their patients."
Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau has taken a unique journey from working for the pharmaceutical industry to becoming a filmmaker and consumer health advocate who educates people through entertainment. Her work has prompted people to ask better questions about prescription drugs and think more about what they put into their bodies.
News organizations like the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, CBS News, CNN, USA Today, The Economist, and Atlantic Monthly, as well as more than 100 other media outlets worldwide have turned to her for real advice on how people can become better consumers of prescription drugs and take control of their health.
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